Indian chieftain. [volume] (Vinita, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1882-1902, 1887-02-10

1
not be honest and upright and Of un-
/ questioned service to my fellows, |
shall quit the law and go to tilling the
ground. A man can certainly be hon
est behind n plowp'
"Snum mel but doubt it.' said the
old lawyer. rs he went out.
John Earlng lit the gas with n smile
on his face and sat down and went To
work, and the old attorney, passing
| down the cold street in the gathering
shadows with his head very low in the
| great collar of his coat. mutterod; "lts
hair and no mistake. but snum me, If
il amt as fine as spiders beardP'
CHAPTER XIV.
Thereafter the old lawyers eyes were
wont 10 light upon John Earling curl
ously where the youth sat with his fine
head bent over his work, and often at
the end of one of these misty starcs he
would nod his great grizzly Uranium
as If In Affirmative response TO some in
ternal query. But whatever the color
of his cogitating, the decisions which
he sccmcs to arrive Mt were evidently
slow in hardening into action, fo- the
snow sparklcd off and the year bios
somed again with the nebulous some
thing still uncrystalizcd.
With the advent Of the leaves John
Earling began to make pilgrimages to
the veranda of Absalom Heater again,
and twice while there he had seen the
willowy Maun cantering her milk-whitc
pony down one Of the many shady
roads that slashed the great woodland,
with its streams, meadows, fields and
! farmstcads. Once, too, on a Sabbath,
when rambling along an old lane,
where y half-rotten rail fence zigzaged
forward under a load Of sguirmiug
vines ard blossoming bricrs, he stopped
and was listening to a thrush's song,
when he c.,w Maun riding down the
main road and waving her whip 20
some one that be could not see. Pres
emily. as he walked onward after that,
he came upon n little isle Of grass in
swarm of hazels. and looking about
him saw the silent book-kceper sitting
upon fallen trce-trunk with his head
bent down almost between his knees
and finger pressed on the arteries on
either side of his neck as if TO stay the
blood from passing up into his brain.
John Earling turned aside and went
onward toward the town; for him she
sweetness of the wood, and the open
clearness OF the sky, were blurred and
lost in the still picture of this human
beings hidden and unknown struggle.
Gu one Of these midsummer days the
current of John Earrings life, which
was flowing evenly onward 10 his pre-
sentation at the bar in the autumn. set
suddenly forward with q new feeling.
1t came about by the thing taking
shape which through all the winter
| and spring had lain uneasily in the old
| lawyers mind, now starting into sub
stance and now again dissOlving, as If
| he could not bear to view IL in any
| form more tangible than n purpose. In
the evening of the day in question he
sat for long time looking at the
bowed head Of the young man who
was reading, and when the room was
filling with shadows and he presently
| got up to 90 home, he stopped by John
Earring, who was bending closely over
his book. and stood looking silently
down upon him. Disturbed by this
unusual movement the young man
looked up quickly and little thrill ran
through him from the strange look in
the old mans eyes.
Come home with me; want Maun
10 know you" said the old attorney,
and his voice seemed husky and from
far down in his throat. John Earling
stood up and looked him in the face in
"A questioning, surprised way. The old
man put out his hand with an appeal
| ing gesture. Lad" he said, "did You
ever love anybody better than you
loved your own soul? No-no-of
course you can't understand how hard
this is,' and he turned away toward
the door.
John EaTling put on his hat, and
| without having uttered word, went
/ with him. IL vas enough for him that
this gnarlcd old lawyer had been his
best friend, and had hidden him to his
home. A knowledge Of what the ap-
parent trouble was that lay upon the
old mans heast he would not even ask
in the truencss of his fealty. They
walked silently out street running
northward through the town. As they
passed Jocrs big house, which was
coming TO completion on the knoll, the
old lawyer glanced up at it and NUT
| tered: "Gingerbrcad.n This was all
that was said until they came 10 Wood
mans house, which stood at the north
most extreme of the town. where the
prairie began to undulatc away in that
gigantic green wedge; then the old man
said: That Maun, and John Earling,
looking up. saw hcrsltting on the porch
of pleasant brick house before which
they were passing.
When they entered the gate she
! came forward to meet them, and John
Earling saw that she was taller than
most girls, with so soft and 1.-THE a
movement that il seemed much as #
an infinitely little wind brcathed down
ward over draperics at every step.
! Her motion touched tine young man
Jiko soundless music. She had low
forehead retreating slightly; a nose,
Greek at the base, but from that avery
delicate brow; a mouth. rather large,
but curved and seeming 10 suck itself
into q sensuOus ilOwer-like pout, with
eyes cut long and Of a dusky amber
hue. A touch perhaps Of Indian blood
was there, refined and strained through
many white mems hearts, and joined
with fluid from old Spanish arteries.
For "a moment her eyes went down
timidly before John Earrings, and the
faint color in her dark face deopened
as she extended her hand and muir
INJURED a welcome. But suddenly she
was easy, and leading them into the
parlor. which was entered from the
right hand Of the hall, she prohored
the young man AN easy chair and
stepping across the hall brought In a
chair with wooden bottom and stifl
back for her father. explaining. with a
smile, that he would never under any
circumstance allow himself 10 sit upon
any thing mors luxurious. Then she
seated herself in a low rocking chair
by the window. and with one Of her